Balikbayan: From Victims to Survivors

Country

Canada

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows Jon Jon Rivero, a Filipino Canadian occupational therapist, as he returns to Tacloban every two years to provide art therapy for street children. The film covers the impact of Typhoon Haiyan on the community and focuses on the long term effects of volunteer work.

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What happens

Balikbayan: From Victims to Survivors is a 2020 Canadian documentary film directed by Rob Hillstead and Jon Jon Rivero. The film documents Jon Jon Rivero's volunteer service in Tacloban from 2007 to 2019. Every 2 years, Jon Jon would bring his fellow Filipino Canadian occupational therapists to provide art centered therapy for street children in the city. The volunteer program was made possible with their long-term partnership with Streetlight Philippines and was founded by Norwegian volunteer Erlend Johannesen in 2004. A major turning point in the documentary is the devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan on the city of Tacloban last November 7, 2013. Jon Jon's team needed to adjust their therapy to the traumatic events of this natural disaster. The documentary highlights the lifelong impact of volunteerism on both its volunteers and beneficiaries. Another important theme of the documentary is to represent story of second generation Filipino Canadians. Jon Jon Rivero's parents, Dr. Jose Zamora Rivero and Mrs. Gloria Rivero, immigrated from the Philippines to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in the 1970s. Both parents promoted Filipino Folk Dances & Music with the next generation of Filipino Canadians, their two sons Jon Jon and Joel. In turn, Jon Jon would share his knowledge and skill of Filipino dance to the children in Tacloban. When Jon Jon was 2 years old, his father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This influenced him to take occupational therapy as he and his family grew up learning how to take care of his father. His father eventually passed on January 16, 2002. Dr. Jose Zamora Rivero wanted his children to visit his hometown of Tacloban. Jon Jon was able to fulfill this promise by touring the Philippines with Filipino-Canadian Saranay Association in 2006. He was filled with a sense of service that he returned in 2007 to begin the Balikbayan Project. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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